Morphology by Itself Stems and Inflectional Classes

by Aronoff, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780262510721
• ISBN10: 0262510723
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-12-02
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Most recent research in generative morphology has avoided the treatment of purely morphological phenomena and has focused instead on interface questions, such as the relation between morphology and syntax or between morphology and phonology. In this monograph Mark Aronoff argues that linguists must consider morphology by itself, not merely as an appendage of syntax and phonology, and that linguistic theory must allow for a separate and autonomous morphological component. Following a general introductory chapter, Aronoff examines two narrow classes of morphological phenomena to make his case: stems and inflectional classes. Concentrating first on Latin verb morphology, he argues that morphological stems are neither syntactic nor phonological units. Next,using data from a number of languages, he underscores the traditional point that the inflectional class of a word is not reducible to its syntactic gender. He then explores in detail the phonologically motivated nominal inflectional class system of two languages of Papua New Guinea (Arapeshand Yimas) and the precise nature of the relation between this system and the corresponding gender system. Finally,drawing on a number of Semitic languages, Aronoff argues that the verb classes of these languages are purely inflectional although they are partly motivated by derivational and syntactic considerations. Mark Aronoff is Professor of Linguistics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Author Biography

Mark Aronoff is Chairman of the Linguistics Department at SUNY, Stony Brook and the author of Word Formation in Generative Grammar (MIT Press, 1976).

Table of Contents

Series Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
Preliminary Terms	p. 5
Separationist Morphology and Lexemes	p. 8
Other Basic Morphological Terms	p. 11
Lexical, Lexemic, and the Lexicon	p. 16
The Morphomic Level	p. 22
Stems in Latin Verbal Morphology	p. 31
Priscianic Formation of Latin Future, Active Participles	p. 31
Stems in Lexeme-Based Morphology	p. 33
The Stem and Related Notions	p. 39
Stems and the Permanent Lexicon	p. 41
Empty Morphs	p. 44
Semantics and the Latin Basic Stem Types	p. 54
Phonologically Specific Stems	p. 58
Gender and Nominal Inflectional Classes	p. 61
Terminology	p. 64
Two Simple Examples of the Relation between Gender and Inflectional Class	p. 66
Hebrew, a Language without Nominal Inflectional Classes	p. 75
Latin Nominal Inflection	p. 79
Gender, Inflection, and Phonological Form in Two Languages of Papua New Guinea: Arapesh and Yimas	p. 89
Arapesh Gender as Revealed through Agreement	p. 90
Inflectional Classes by Themselves	p. 104
Sex, Gender, and Inflectional Class	p. 111
Word Formation	p. 112
Yimas	p. 114
Binyanim as Inflectional Classes	p. 123
The Term Binyan and Its Meaning	p. 123
The Hebrew Binyan System	p. 124
The Abstract Nature of the Binyan	p. 134
Qal Stem Templates	p. 141
Varia	p. 147
Aramaic Binyanim	p. 150
Syriac	p. 151
Modern Aramaic	p. 154
Michal: A Semitic Language without Binyanim	p. 160
Conclusion	p. 165
Notes	p. 171
References	p. 197
Index	p. 207
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